Overview/Highlights:
- Seems strange not to be sitting on a bike cursing the saddle - the penultimate day was a 125 mile brute from Fort William to a quiet but uninspiring place called Lairg (final 10 mile uphill) and the final day a windy and damp but slightly easier 100 mile trip in mild temperatures up to the north coast and then across to JOG
- The hero of these two days was Sharp, who, a day after 'the worst day of his life' managed to topple the monster stage 8, beating the more experienced riders in the group comfortably to arrive first at the hotel - it was an epic feat, and he also managed to combine the two worst days of his life into consecutive days (graphic video evidence below) which is also some achievement... on the final day, with Taylor in the warmth of the van (see below) he put his head down and made it JOG for the well-deserved plaudits and a glass of proseco - evidence and images below, sadly there is no video of his comedy fall on arrival at the sign but the emotion that came through on realising it was all over has I feel been captured fairly and in no way manipulated
- Taylor, unfortunately, succumbed to a case of knee-knack tendon damage and had to spend a good portion of both final stages in the support van - this was highly disappointing given how far we had come, and became reasonably embarrassing after other members of the group referred to him as Bader (after Douglas Bader, look it up) due to his inability to walk or perform basic tasks.
- as it stands we have raised a touch over 2,000 GBP for Crohn's disease (inc. gift aid) and with a couple of pledges to come in, we should get close to our overall target - thanks so much once again for the support. (on that point, if you happened to be one of the couple of people who donated but not leave a name or email address, than thanks also, whoever you might be!)
What we've learned part 1 (by Sharpy - including the patented Sharpy Morale Calculator):
- You can go literally anywhere on a bike
- When it rains, you don't stop, you just ride faster, it's a form of motivation
- Don't underestimate the size of the task, it's brutal, but...
- You never know what's round the corner (you need to remind yourself of this to get through it)
- Morale was something of an issue for Sharpy at times (Taylor - those times being all times) - luckily with a long time in the saddle we were able to boil this down into a mathematical equation - with 0 being a neutral frame of mind, you simply add or subtract to understand why you are in the mood you are in... each day started at -10 for Sharp and +10 for Taylor, then you go from there:
Good Tarmac +5
A peloton of bike riders coming past out of nowhere (allowing you to tow on the end) +5
Doing anything over 20mph +3 (unless in the rain or on bad tarmac then -3)
Tailwind +2
Doing anything over 15 mph +2 (unless in the rain or on bad tarmac then -2)
Good weather +2
Getting close to lunch +2
Seeing a bird of prey +2
Epic scenery +2
Nice scenery +1
Seeing a rainbow +1
Getting lost -2 (Taylor - I dispute this only did this much harm to your mood)
Heavy traffic -2
Joe telling a joke -2 (Taylor - +5 for me)
Arguing over birds of prey -2
Headwind -3
Bad Tarmac -3
Body limb pain over 5/10 -3 (per body part)
Bad weather -5
When you're told that lunch is at 60 miles & you get to 63 miles & there's still no sign of lunch -5
Body limb pain over 5/10 for over 1hr -6
Bad Tarmac for over an 1hr -7
Bad weather for long than an 1hr -10
Losing your riding buddy - 15
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| "why have you stopped listening to my list of things that have irked me today, take those earphones out now" |
What we’ve learned part 2 (by Taylor - 5 considerations for all aspiring lejoggers):
1) It's worth doing the trip for the scenery and wildlife alone. Without wanting to reprise my joke from an earlier post, it can be a bit dispiriting seeing Peter Rabbit and his family blended into the tarmac, but you also get to see the odd live animal as well (not counting sheep or cows, this country is overrun with those)... The highlights of which were the birds of prey (deliberately left generic due to the ensuing arguments over exactly what they were... to settle one of those - you do get falcons in Devon, I looked it up) and a scurrying badger who managed to survive the massacre... sadly the seagull below was the only thing that sat still long enough to get a photo... The scenery is also impressive, sometimes inspiring, sometimes bleak but always many times better than cycling through a city (on this point if you haven't been to Taunton, Carlisle or Wigan then don't bother, I'd rather be in Birmingham)... With the idea of being more in tune with nature large in my mind on arrival at JOG, I decided to buy an awesome hat that was made out of one of our furry friends, but unfortunately on returning to the shop with cash (they hadn't heard of amex) they had closed, and I remain without an animal appreciation hat
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| Yet another adequate spot for for a coffee stop |
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| Hitting the north coast of scotland was a particular highlight - especially as i was able to wear 5 layers of clothing... |
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| ...unlike sharpy - the grimace is totally fair in this case |
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| Fish don't eat ham! news to me |
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| This epic hat would have brought me closer to Mother Nature, missing out was the lowlight of my trip |
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| even less interesting than a cow, it would also make a very inadequate hat |
2) Don't do it alone, well you can, and it would be more peaceful, but when it's gets tiring and painful, it's good to have someone you can trust alongside you (or if you're on a hill, some way behind you)... I owe a big debt of gratitude to Sharpy for keeping me going on days 3-7 when the pain was getting pretty unbearable despite the day 2 fiasco - I stopped developing my list of ways in which we annoyed him and started counting the number of audible shouts/groans of discomfort, but ultimately he manned up and got it done, despite being left alone on days 8 and 9 - chapeau!
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One of his happier-looking pit-stops
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3) I'd have failed to make it to stage 2 without the support provided by Neal who organised the trip and was in charge of route, mechanical support, motivation, accommodation, lunch, tea breaks and generally making sure everyone was okay - I'd advise anyone looking to do a similar trip to sign up for something with him http://www.theveloadventurecompany.com/ - he also drives like a maniac and tells extremely amusing inappropriate stories - top man
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| Neal - driver, mechanic, provider of food and humour |
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| le depart, final day, sans Taylor :( |
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| I was happy to see this, didn't notice until a couple of days after we mounted a high kerb at 40 mph |
4) Whoever talks about pain being a mental thing is talking c*** - when your leg refuses to bend and just trying to connect to the pedal results in a stabbing pain through the leg, there is nothing mental about it... the bottom line is really about preparation - make sure your bike fits you perfectly, and make sure your legs (and other bicycle-touching parts) are prepared for c90 hours in the saddle over 9 days - once a bit of you goes wrong it has a knock-on effect until you're in serious trouble... The one saving grace of not being able to ride stage 9 was that you have more time to enjoy the scenery, Neal's stories and generally look like a badly dressed tourist in the Highlands
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| So fed up of this routine |
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| More redneck or Hobo? (@ Loch Ness) |
5) You get a lot of time to think while pedaling, and it's a good time to put things in your head into more perspective - a bit of pet topic of mine but it's true - everyone should try something similar just to forget about day to day reality (at least until the pain truly sets in then you think about that a bit more) and understand that there's more to life.
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| I gave a short lecture to the group on the importance of these ancient stones, it was well received in my opinion |
Daily difficulty rating (8&9):
MS: 9/10 – another 10 for day 8, joint worst day ever, an 8 for day 9, which was mental torture
JT: 3-10/10 – Depends how look at it really - the van was pretty comfortable but just getting on the bike agony, I did a lot more of the former and thus will be returning to finish the job next year
The Arrival (and some other random photos):
The Arrival (and some other random photos):
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| the extent of the achievement sinks in |
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| in hindsight it was pretty easy |
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| trying to give an oscar-style speech of thanks to the group... |
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Still feeling the emotion while saying goodbye to JOG
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| arty shot of the beautiful landscape, I think the sign is meant to be irony |
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| A long, and not especially winding, road, there were lots of these |
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| I spent 20 minutes hobbling down on Sharpy's instructions only to find he had left by the time i got there |
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| Running repairs with Neil - essential |
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| menacing lock/ben combo |
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| these boys did well too |
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| was proud to don the green and blue at key moments, such as arriving in the van and pretending I'd been on the bike all day |
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| Fantastic, very wobbly, foot bridge, strong for testing knee stability |
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| totally appropriate riding apparel |
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| hard to read but the sign says JOG is not far - our favourite sign! |
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| bleak bleak bleak, at this point I'd rather have been in Westfield, Stratford |
